Stargazer Saturday Oct 15, 2016

Stargazer Saturday is our weekly series showing what to look for in the sky.

Tonight after sunset, look to the south-west to see Venus, the brightest planet you’ll see tonight, along with Saturn above the bright star Antares.

Looking south, you’ll see Mars in the constellation Sagittarius. Pluto is hiding out near Mars, but you’ll need a good telescope to have a chance to see it as a dim 14th magnitude!

Finally, turn North to find the the little dipper, and down near the horizon, the big dipper. The little dipper can be hard to make out, so use the two bright stars at the end of the big dipper’s ladle to trace a line to Polaris, the north star, and the far end of the little dipper’s handle.

Observe The Moonrise

The full moon will be rising from the east about 20 minutes after the sun is setting to the west (assuming you have a flat horizon). Observe the color of the moon as it rises past the horizon. The atmosphere will give it a yellow-orange hue, and make it appear larger than normal. As it rises higher, it will loose the coloring and added size.

AstroBox New Customer Special

To celebrate our Moon, we have a special promotion going for new AstroBox subscribers! Sign up with this link, or enter coupon code MOON17 in the month of October, and we will send you a special 12″ inflatable LED moon printed from NASA images!

Free Moon for new AstroBox subscribers in October!

The next AstroBox won’t ship until the first week of December, but for US orders, we will ship your Moon within a few days of your order! (Due to high shipping costs, International customers will receive their moon along with the December AstroBox.) This moon is also available in the Shop for $9.99 + shipping.